Hacking Cancer
by AkiAkiChan
Summary: Spencer has a dirty little secret called cancer. How does the team find out?
1. Chapter 1

~Don't own Criminal Minds (obviously)~

When Spencer takes three weeks off in the summer to visit his mom and catch up on things. Hotch thinks nothing of it. Sure, it's quite a bit longer than Reid's normal vacancy, but the kid deserved it.

The kid that wasn't really a kid any more.

The kid who was turning 30.

The kid who had learned to lie since joining the BAU.

Sure, Spencer was going to visit his mom. But that was what the first 5 days were for. The next 2 were to visit Ethan. And the other 14? Well that was his dirty little secret.

After a second opinion on his MRI, a small anomaly was discovered. Further investigation proved that it was…cancer.

After weeks of worrying that he was going crazy, Spencer wanted to feel relieved. Cancer he could deal with, right?

Wrong.

Chemo was scary as hell.

Scratch that. Chemo was hell.

Skinny as he was, Spencer did not need to lose weight.

He lost weight. Lots of it.

The day Spencer was supposed to return to work, he didn't. The possibility of throwing up on the train, or worse, in the office, wasn't worth it. Soon, he'd consider staying in the hospital.

So, after ignoring the phone calls and text messages, Spencer wasn't surprised when Morgan and Prentiss showed up at his apartment. Sure, two agents was a bit excessive, but then again it was SPENCER.

Prentiss was surprised that Morgan had a key. Morgan was surprised that there were dirty dishes in the sink.

Both surprises seemed rather insignificant compared to the shock they received when they found Spencer laying in bed. Bald.

"Hey guys," Spencer said, nonchalantly.

"Hey guys? That's all you have to say? Why are you in bed? Why aren't you at work? Why are you BALD?" Morgan asked.

"I'm not at work because I'm in bed. I'm in bed because I'm bald. I'm bald because I'm sick."

"Sick," Prentiss repeated.

"Yes, I believe cancer is a form of sickness," Spencer deadpanned.

Morgan wanted to scream. Instead, he sadly whispered, "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I didn't know how." For whatever reason, cancer was making him brave. He had already faced death, and wasn't afraid to die. This would be the only time he could thank Hankel.

Prentiss quietly exited the room and call JJ.

Hotch and Rossi were standing outside their offices, anxiously glancing at the door. Garcia had come in the bullpen long ago and was sitting at Spencer's desk. JJ burst out of her office, cell phone in hand, crying.

"What happened to my Junior G-man? Did someone hurt him? Who's life do I need to ruin?" Garcia demanded.

JJ shook her head. "Unless you can hack cancer, there's nothing you can do Pen."

"Can-cancer?" Hotch asked, rather shocked.

JJ merely bit her bottom lip and nodded.


	2. Chapter 2

Hotch, JJ, Rossi and Garcia left the office. In their eyes, nothing was more important than the youngest member of their team. And as Garcia eloquently put it, "I'm going to visit my baby boy. If Strauss has an issue with it, she can go fuck herself."

When the rest of team got to Spencer's apartment and knocked, Prentiss opened the door. Her face had a strong mask up, but she was chewing her nails. Her little tell of nervousness.

"Where is he?" JJ whispered, somehow feeling that quiet was needed in this situation. Prentiss merely showed them the way to his room. Only to find him not in bed, and Morgan sitting outside the bathroom door.

"Pretty Boy, let me in. I want to help you," Morgan pleaded. He was tempted to break down the door, but didn't want to hurt Spencer in the process.  
>There was the faint sound of retching followed by, "How can you be calling me 'Pretty Boy' still?"<br>"What?"  
>"I'm bald, skinnier than ever, and paler than ever. How can I be pretty?"<br>"You'll always be pretty, Spence," Garcia answered, when Morgan seemed to flounder.

Spencer flushed the toilet and opened the door. "When…when did you guys get here?" He asked, eyeing his whole team.  
>"As soon as we heard," Hotch answered. "You shouldn't go through this alone."<p>

"I've gone through a lot on my own. Why should this be any different?" Spencer spat, he hated that they thought he was helpless.  
>"You're part of our family, Spence. We're going to take care of you no matter what, because we love you and we care," JJ said, touching his arm lightly, trying not to grimace at his boniness.<p>

At that point Spencer decided, that even if he wasn't afraid of death, he would try to live. For his team. For his mother. For himself.


	3. Epilogue

Spencer continued his war with cancer. Each member of the team took turns taking him to chemo. No one really talked about what they did with Spencer during chemo and the days following, but each had a special routine. And Spencer wouldn't trade any of them for the world.

When JJ went with Spencer she would hold his hand and tell him stories about Henry's latest achievements. After chemo, while Spencer was still in the hospital, she would bring Henry to visit and would read to her "two favorite boys". And sometimes, when Spencer was feeling up to it, he would read to Henry, or they would color together.

When Morgan came with Spencer, they would play card games. Sick as Spencer was, he still won. And if there was a football game on TV, Morgan would attempt to explain the basics to Spencer. Once, he even brought in a rule book and read it to him.

Even though Emily was gone now, while she was still alive, she would read him his favorite stories. He missed her terribly.

When Rossi came, sometimes they played chess. A lot of times though, they sat in companionable silence. Sometimes Spencer preferred this to Morgan's rowdiness. He was glad for the company, but he sometimes he wanted to just sit and think.

When Hotch came, he would bring Jack if he was out of school. Jack would do homework, with a bit of Uncle Spencer's help, and when he was done, he would ask Spencer lots of questions. Jack was a curious child, and Hotch was glad that Spencer had answers. Even if Hotch wasn't involved with their activities, he was always nearby. Without Jack, things were a little calmer. They would talk about cases sometimes, workaholics in action.

Garcia was secretly his favorite. No matter how down in the dumps he was, she never let him stay that way for long. She would bring get well balloons and flowers and teddy bears every time. He had one of the best decorated rooms. She couldn't bring in any of her baked goods because they would make him sick, but she promised that as soon as he got better she'd make him a huge batch and fatten him up. She was cheery and helped him set up a video camera on a laptop so he could talk to her while they were on cases. He even helped a little sometimes.

A year after diagnosis, Spencer was told the best news ever. His cancer was in remission. His first day back in the office was filled with hugs and tins of cookies. He was still bald at the time, so they took of a picture of him and Morgan, matching grinning bald handsome men.


End file.
